On the plus side, policymakers expect "the pace of recovery to pick up over coming quarters and the unemployment rate to resume its gradual decline."

As for Fed policy: It is keeping the "target range" for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and will "complete its purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of this month" in a bid to give the economy a lift.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to take questions from reporters at 2:15 p.m. ET.

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